CenterStage with Michael Kay is taped in NYC

YES Network's Popular Talk Show CenterStage Is Taped in New York City.

CenterStage - Show SummaryCenterStage is an hour long, intimate, one-on-one interview TV show hosted by Emmy Award winning YES Network sports announcer Michael Kay. The show is broadcast on the YES Network and is shot in a small studio in New York City and follows a standard format of one-on-one interviewing style with a small studio audience. The audience is occasionally given the opportunity to ask the interviewee a question at the end of the show. This show which allows members of the public a level of access to famous sports stars and other celebrities that they would not normally get.

The show is transmitted on the YES network, which is now part owned by the New York Yankees (The majority stake now belonging to 21st Century Fox). The format of the show allows for just a single guest for the whole show , which allows Kay to delve a little deeper with celebrities than the other run-of-the-mill TV yakkers in New York City. The guest choice is often from the world of sports, as the YES Network is a sports channel after all, But to keep the interviewee roster fresh, sports celebrities are switched out for other notable celebrities from the worlds of film, music, and TV.

CenterStage has been compared to a sports version of Inside The Actors Studio, but without the pretension.
The host is not compelled to move onto another guest and can focus their attention on one particular individual for the allotted show duration. The show is usually structured in two parts: the first section is the main interview with Michael Kay and takes up ninety percent of the show. The second section is Hit and Run, where Kay asks the guests some rapid fire questions. Kay does not do this often, but when time allows, and the guest is amenable, a third section of the show is where the audience gets to ask the guest some questions, which can be quite illuminating. This section rounds out the end of the show.

Free Tickets to CenterStage with Michael Kay

Free Advance Tickets To CenterStage:
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Free Standby Tickets To CenterStage:
Standby tickets are available for CenterStage although standby ticket numbers are limited.
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Should you see CenterStage being taped in New York City?

CenterStage does not have a set taping schedule as the the show books around the availability of the guest, so you can anticipate that shows may be taped at any time during the week, but not on weekends. On show days, two shows are often taped, with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Because of the intimate nature of the show, the studio audience can get to be up-close-and-personal with all kinds of sports (and non-sports) celebrities in a relaxed studio atmosphere. The show takes about seventy five to ninety minutes to record, but you can anticipate being there for up to three hours in various lines of some form and there is some waiting inside the studio as well. The show does provide the audience with drinks and food, such as bagels, soft drinks and pizza.. Due to very little time in between segments, bathroom breaks are typically not allowed during the show. People on the standby line often get in, but less likely if there is an A-list celebrity coming on the show. Advance tickets given out are usually in excess of studio capacity. In some rare cases, if too many advance ticket holders turn up, some latecomers will be turned away, as was the case with the famous Andy Pettitte interview. Depending on the guest some interviews are less compelling. Other interviews are quite electric and interesting.

Host Profile - Michael Kay
Michael Kay is a professional sports announcer and has been the Yankees' lead television play-by-play announcer since 2002.
Kay spent a decade as a radio announcer with John Sterling at the New York City radio station WABC
Kay started his professional career as a writer first at the New York Post in 1982 and later at The New York Daily News as a beat writer in 1987.

The celebrity guest and Michael Kay will usually stick around after the show taping to chat and sign autographs. Professional autograph hounds are not allowed to be part of the studio audience

How To Get To The Studio:Take the A, C or 1 trains to 59th Street Columbus Circle and walk down 59th Street between 10th and 11th avenues to the studio.

Get FREE Tickets to CenterStage:
You can get FREE tickets to watch a taping of
CenterStage by going on the YES Network website and registering for the listed show date. The short form requires your first and last name, email address and phone number.

There is a limit of two tickets per person. You have the option of printing your tickets out, keep them on your phone or picking them up at check-in. For more information about getting tickets
CLICK HERE

Noteworthy Dates for This TV Show:October 21, 2002: Premier of the first episode of CenterStage

May 29, 2013: World-renowned tennis player Venus Williams comes on the show.

When Does This Show Tape?The show can tape any time and any day during the week. The taping schedule is set around the celebrity's availability. The earliest taping is usually at 10AM and the latest is at 3PM. Shows are usually taped Mon-Fri and not on weekends.

The audience must be at the studio at least one hour prior, for guaranteed seating. It is suggested to arrive an hour and a half before the taping just in case there is a long line or you have to check in.

Taping Season:CenterStage tapes approximately 18-20 shows a year.

Studio Audience Casting
Because CenterStage is on the Yankees-owned YES network and tends to focus on sports celebrities, naturally the audience is heavy on men and sports fans. But the show does frequently spotlight non-sports stars, which opens up the demographic a bit. The best case scenario, for any given episode, is that the audience is made up of fans of whoever Michael Kay is interviewing that day.

Fans might be able to enjoy watching their favorite celebrities from their seats, but that is close as they are going to get, since Kay rarely opens up the floor for any questions.

Better Access To The Yankees' RosterThe TV show CenterStage is partly owned by the YES Network (short for the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network) Leveraging this part-ownership, CenterStage has much better access to the Yankees organization than other competing TV shows in this same genre. This can include past and current players, managers and staff of the whole Yankees organization. The Yankees organization feels that allowing their players and staff on to this TV show is low risk given that it is not likely that they will be ensnared by scandal or be the subject of a TV show expose.
The only difficulty with interviewing current Yankees players is that many of the current players lack the big-name draw of former stars like Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

CenterStage Has Yet To Interview Beleaguered Alex Rodriguez (AKA A-Rod)According to sports blog's not endorsed by the Yankees or the YES Network, since A-Rod's doping scandal and subsequent re-inclusion into the Yankees roster it was indicated that A-Rod wanted to apologize to the fans, but Yankees management avoided endorsing A-Rod in many ways.
The CenterStage TV show would be the perfect forum for A-Rod to face up to his unethical acts as Michael Kay would pull no punches and the show has some credibility with its affiliation with the Yankees, without being a direct connection.

Currently, the Yankees are putting A-Rod on the field to play baseball because they are being forced to live up to their contractual agreement that did not provide a clause to cancel the contract for doping. The alternative could be just to bench him, but they are forced to still pay him, something the Yankees management is strongly against. All baseball contracts going forward require the ball players to stay drug-free and it will be deemed a cancelled contract if they digress. The new clause in the Yankees contract is aptly called the A-Rod Clause.
The Yankees organization are not allowing A-Rod him to make any interviews or have any media coverage within the Yankees confines. His apology for cheating to fans and Yankees teammates came too little, too late and has provided him no value in the sport. The Yankees have also found that they cannot trade him due to his toxic brand image that no other team would like to own.

There are many famous shows that are often re-broadcast including interviews with Derek Jeter, Joe Torre and David Wells. Other notable shows include Rachael Ray's interview, where she appears to quite lethargic during the show.

Director: Michael Cooney

Producer & Writer:
Mitchell Kozuchowski

Executive Producer:
John Filippelli

Supervising Producer:Woody Freiman

Staff and Creative Team:

Talent Producer:Steve Bernie

Associate Producers:Melissa Picheny

Warm-Up Comedian:Pete Dominick

Production:GMC Truck

Genre:CenterStage is a one-on-one interview show taped in front of a live studio audience.
Show Transmission Time & Channel:New episodes of CenterStageair at different times of the week with no set schedule. New shows are transmitted during prime time and reruns are usually in the afternoon and evenings.
Age Requirement:You must be 18 years old or older to be admitted to this TV show taping.

Parking For This TV StudioThe closest parking garage to the AMV Unitel Studio is located at:

MPG Worthy Parking
511 W 55th Street
New York, NY 10019
212-315-2462

ICON Apex Parking
440 W 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
212-765-7069

The closest parking is not always the best as it often takes longer to park and retrieve your vehicle as fellow TV show patrons have the same idea.
A better choice of parking may be the second choice or further away by a couple of Avenues.